Qsw Senior Practitioner Court Team Within Safeguarding Care Planning Job In Bromley

Your new role

The Court Team is a specialist team within the Safeguarding Service. The focus of the work is with children at significant risk of harm where intervention of the court is necessary to protect them. Many of these children become looked after by the Local Authority in the interim and subsequently may not be able to return to their parents. They may be permanently cared for elsewhere by living with either extended family, long-term foster care, or adoption under a Court Order.

The Court Team consists of a Team Manager and 6 Senior Practitioners. This team works in partnership with the Bromley Children’s Legal Team to ensure that children’s cases that are presented to court are well-prepared and timely.

The position requires recent court experience and the ideal candidate would be keen to join a team that specialises in court work within a safeguarding team.

What you'll need to succeed

• Be very well-organised, have the ability to communicate effectively and articulate evidence in care proceedings.
• Write reports to a high standard that are concise, evidence-based for court and adoption panels (i.e. Child Permanency and Adoption Placement Reports).
• Meet court timelines for submission of statements, care plans, and to effectively parallel plan for children considering all relevant options to secure permanent care at the earliest opportunity for the child.
• Undertake assessments (i.e. parenting and together and apart assessments), plan appropriate intervention, and work creatively with children and families who are in court proceedings.
• Have a good understanding of safeguarding thresholds and the ability to assess and analyze risks, including good knowledge of child development and attachment theories and permanency needs of children of all ages.
• Be able to effectively undertake direct work with children and have the child at the centre of all care work planning.
• Hold a limited caseload (up to 11 children) to ensure that you implement the highest standards of practice.
• Work in partnership with colleagues across teams and specialisms and partner agencies to ensure that effective and timely assessments are undertaken of children’s developmental needs and the needs of their families. This will include working in partnership with legal representatives and Guardians within the court arena.
• Undertake risk analysis/risk assessment based on informed professional judgment and use of primary evidence to evaluate the parenting capacity to make changes and ensure they can care for their children safely or whether alternative plans should be implemented.

• Ability to work within a framework of legislation, guidance, divisional policies and procedures, and accountability to senior officers.
• Ability to relate effectively to children, parents, and carers, many of whom may be under stress.
• This will include the ability to support and facilitate the work of more junior staff who are having to deal with particularly difficult situations.
• Ability to work as a team member and to form professional partnerships with other staff within the Department, colleagues from other agencies, foster carers, and residential workers and health and education professionals. This will include an ability to remain aware of the roles and responsibilities of others and to promote a positive image of the division and department.
• Skill in analyzing complex and problematic situations and in formulating, implementing, and reviewing, alongside service users, appropriate assessment and intervention programmes.
• Skill in communicating clearly orally and in writing, including an ability to maintain concise case records including Looked After Children documentation and to produce reports for case conferences, courts, and other bodies.
• Ability to manage working time effectively in order to meet both professional priorities and administrative requirements.
• Ability to think creatively in meeting children’s and families’ needs, using family and community networks, voluntary sector, and other external resources and provision where appropriate.
• Ability to contribute to the overall development of the team e.g.: making presentations and leading discussions in areas of professional practice; identifying opportunities for meeting need more effectively; promoting an appropriate and professional climate.
• Demonstrate appropriate understanding, knowledge, and skills in valuing diversity.

What you'll get in return

• Manageable caseloads for every Social Worker.
• Dedicated time for reflective supervision.
• Generous Annual Leave Entitlement including an additional three days.
• Small Cluster teams with one team manager supervising four Social Workers.
• Two-week protected induction programme.
• Excellent Learning and development opportunities with bespoke training for every social worker.
• Social Workers and team managers have easy and regular access to the leadership team.

• Eligibility to join the Lease Car Scheme.
• Social Workers are classified as essential car users, granting them access to free car parking at Bromley Civic Centre and the ability to claim more on mileage (45p per mile).
• Membership of the excellent Local Government Pension Scheme.
• Excellent transport links.
• Salary Sacrifice Schemes make huge savings on the Cycle2Work bike scheme.
• Employee Benefits Lifestyle Discounts – hundreds of discounts at local and national retailers, restaurants, holidays, and many more.

What you need to do now

If you're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV, or call us now.

If this job isn't quite right for you, but you are looking for a new position, please contact us for a confidential discussion on your career.

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